Related By a Bullet
by guardianM3
Summary: An old informant of Carlos Sandoval is murdered.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 1: Murder

Carlos Sandoval rapped his knuckles on the door and waited. "Hey, Cruz, it's me." A light frown came to his lips when he didn't receive an answer. He jiggled the handle and discovered it was unlocked. His frown deepened as he reached his hand inside his coat and withdrew his gun.

He wondered if he was being paranoid as he slowly pushed the door open. His training had his senses on high alert. A familiar coppery scent reached his nose and he hoped that particular sense was wrong. While scanning the room, he spotted a familiar figure lying on the floor.

"Cruz!" He knelt down, careful to avoid the large pool of blood that had gathered from the body. There was no pulse, but his body was still warm.

He rose to his feet and did a thorough check of the apartment, which wasn't difficult since it was so small that he would be able to see if there was another person with them. He found it devoid of anyone besides himself and the body of Tony Cruz.

He heard footsteps behind him but wasn't quick enough when a voice yelled out, "Freeze! Dallas PD. Slowly set your weapon down on the ground and turn around."

It clicked in his mind that the voice was female and unfamiliar. He bent down, set his gun on the floor, and turned around slowly. He saw a man and a woman, standing just inside the doorway, both had guns drawn and pointed right at his chest.

"Carlos?" The man said with a surprised look on his face as he lowered his gun.

"Darryl?" He replied, recognizing the man as Darryl Sun, a detective with the Dallas Police Department. He had met Sun when they both started as rookies at DPD. His gaze went to the other cop but she was unknown to him. Her shoulder length blonde hair had hints of red in it and her dark emerald eyes were captivating. He wondered if she was single.

"This is Carlos Sandoval," Darryl said reassuringly. "He used to be a detective at DPD. We can trust him, Lucy."

"Can't," his partner replied as she pulled out her handcuffs and indicated with a hand gesture to Carlos for him to turn around. He complied and she snapped the handcuffs on his wrists.

Darryl sighed as he holstered his gun. "I'm sorry about this, Carlos."

He nodded his head in understanding but he couldn't believe that he had been arrested for a murder he hadn't committed.

* * *

The once familiar bustle of the people, the incessant ringing of telephones and the click-clack of fingers on keyboards at the precinct wasn't soothing to Carlos at all. It was embarrassing that he was in his former precinct handcuffed to a chair next to Darryl's desk.

He was glad that Darryl had convinced his partner that he wasn't a danger so he didn't have to be in a holding cell. When he got curious looks from the people he used to work with, he wished he was in an interrogation room, but they were all occupied. He decided that it was better than sitting in a dingy room.

Before his current location in the bullpen, he had been brought to the men's room to change his clothes. His clothes had been bagged, tagged, and sent to the lab for analysis. He now wore a pair of sweatpants and a shirt with DPD written on them. His hands had been swabbed for what he knew was going to be a test for gunshot residue.

He looked at Lucy who was leaning against her own desk in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. The emerald eyes of the woman standing before him could cut through a diamond.

"Talk," she said in a voice that would have a low-life thug spilling his guts or a Politician speaking the truth.

He turned his head to look at Darryl who was sitting at his desk. "I was running late," he replied quietly knowing that his bad habit had cost a man his life. He tried not to think about the various outcomes if he had been early or on time.

A few days ago, Tony had called him. He had sounded nervous and fearful on the phone and it had taken Carlos a lot to convince his old informant to trust him with whatever was bothering him. Tony didn't want to tell Carlos on the phone so they had decided to meet. He thought that if he had convinced Tony to tell him the first time he had called, he would still be alive. Tony was dead and there was only one thing that he could do about it.

He shook his head so he could return to the present. "When I arrived, I knocked, discovered the door was unlocked and went in. I saw him on the floor and went to check for a pulse. I was about to call the DPD, but you two showed up."

"Where were you this morning before you arrived at his apartment?" Lucy asked.

"I was at my apartment this morning and I left at seven. I was at Uppercuts at about seven fifteen or so to meet some friends of mine. I left there at 9:30 to meet up with Tony and I got there at 9:45," he paused for a moment. "I was supposed to be there at nine."

"Did you go anywhere else?" the fierce detective questioned.

He shook his head. "No."

"All right," she said as she turned to Darryl. "I'm going to go check out a few things."

He nodded his head as his partner turned and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket as she walked away.

Carlos didn't take his eyes off the detective until she entered the old elevator, which he lost sight of her once the doors had closed.

"I appreciate not being thrown into a cell," he said as he turned his attention back to Darryl.

The detective turned and looked at him with an encouraging smile. "Well, you are lucky that I could convince my partner not to throw you into a cell. If you had hit on her, she might have personally thrown you in one and she would have made certain that you never left."

"Funny," he replied as Darryl chuckled. He pointed toward the female detective's desk. "What's her story, Darryl?"

He responded with a raised eyebrow and the shaking of his head. He set the folder down and turned his chair to look at him. "She's new to Dallas and she's a great detective. Her work is her life."

"Okay." He bit his lip and then he looked at his old friend. "Her work is her life? So, that means she's single then?"

Darryl shook his head again and chuckled, while Carlos had his famous or probably more infamous, wide grin on his face.

Half an hour later, Lucy returned with coffee carrier with three coffees in it, which she placed on Darryl's desk. She had her cell up to her ear and after disconnecting the call, she looked at her partner, which Carlos recognized as a silent communication between the two detectives. Then she turned her attention to him.

"The ME and Forensics have finished with the scene. Seems he was killed forty-five minutes before you arrived," she said and elaborated when his eyebrows rose at the exact time of death. "With some probing, a neighbor had heard a gunshot at that time, but didn't report it. Your alibi covers you for that time." She paused. "There is also the fact that you and your weapon are both clean from gun-shot residue."

Darryl leaned forward and unlocked the cuffs, freeing Carlos from the chair.

"Well, seeing as this is all a misunderstanding I won't sue for a false arrest," Carlos said with a grin as he rubbed his formerly imprisoned wrist.

Her face remained impassive but the look in her eyes could stop a rampaging bull.

He cleared his throat, noted the glance from Darryl, and decided that he would rather talk than upset this hot, but serious woman.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Sandoval," she said as she pulled a cup of coffee out of the coffee carrier and handed it to him, in which he had a surprised look on his face. She pulled out a second cup of coffee and set it in front of Darryl.

"Thank you, Detective Silver," Carlos said as he took a sip and realized it was a perfect cup of coffee. He said goodbye to them and walked away, happily sipping his coffee.

Darryl waited for Carlos to leave before he turned to his partner. "He's innocent."

She didn't bother to answer as she grabbed her coffee, took a sip then sat down at her desk. She opened a folder on her desk and began to write some notes.

"We got an anonymous call about a homicide," he reminded her. "The killer could have known about the meeting between Carlos and the victim. It was an opportunity to throw suspicion onto someone else. He was almost an hour late and that could have made the killer anxious so he decided to kill Cruz anyway."

"It's a possibility but Sandoval could still be involved." She pointed at as she looked up at her partner. "We'll take a look at that call."

He recognized that look in his partner's eyes. "Look, Lucy, I've known Carlos a long time," he began but then stopped when the look she sent his way told him that he shouldn't even bother.

He took a sip from his fresh coffee and turned to his computer. He started to search for the victim's family and known associates to see who had motive to kill Tony Cruz. He knew that his partner wouldn't drop Carlos off the suspect list quite yet, just as he knew that Carlos wouldn't forget about Lucy being single.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 2: Thunder Investigations and Uppercuts

"You were arrested?" Kim asked with a mixture of anger and disbelief on her face.

Carlos looked at the woman who ran the office of Thunder Investigations. "Yes, but I've been cleared."

She responded with the rolling of her eyes and a corner mouth frown that he noticed was starting to appear a lot since she joined Thunder Investigations.

Trent Malloy, his partner at Thunder Investigations, placed a gentle and reassuring hand on Kim's shoulder and looked at him with his clear blue eyes. "Who was the man who was killed?"

"Tony Cruz. He was an old informant of mine," Carlos said as he took a sip of coffee from the cup that he had poured once he had entered the office.

"You want to find out who killed him," Trent said as a statement not a question.

He looked down at the cup of coffee in his hands and then looked at his two friends who were looking at him intently. "Yeah. I do."

"Didn't you say that you know the investigators on the case?" Kim asked as she went to the fridge and pulled out a can of orange soda.

"One of them. He's an old friend. His partner is an interesting one though," he said, his eyes looking far away.

Trent shook his head and smiled. "I can tell that his partner is a nice looking woman."

Kim rolled her eyes and shook her head while she popped the tab open on the soda.

"Anyway," Kim said, trying to get back onto the more important topic, "I think we need to find out and ask around about Cruz to see what he was involved in."

"Or what he came across," Trent added.

She nodded her head in agreement. "We can have Butch try his contacts to see if they have heard anything."

"Butch isn't the only one with contacts," Carlos protested.

"Yes, but he has a lot more contacts than you do," she pointed out.

He decided that she was right and took a sip from his coffee as he thought about the first time he had met Cruz. He wondered if things would've been different if they had never met. It was just a thought that crossed his mind but he knew it wouldn't be the last time.

* * *

Lucy sat at her desk, looking at her notes from the Tony Cruz case. She looked at the clock to see that her partner wouldn't be there for at least half an hour since he had an appointment that morning. She wanted to go and talk to Cruz' aunt who was the only one left of his family. She thought about the questions she wanted to ask when someone approaching her desk interrupted her thoughts. She waited for the new arrival to speak before she reacted.

"Detective Silver, may I have a word with you?"

She looked up and she saw a short, brown haired man in a cheap suit. She had seen him around the squad room and had noticed him checking her out. She hadn't determined if he had been leering at her or if he was just curious about her abilities as a detective. Either way, she never let it bother her.

She didn't say anything but responded to his question with a slight nod of her head signaling him to continue.

"I'm Detective Ryan. I heard that you and your partner had arrested a suspect by the name of Carlos Sandoval?"

She waited, knowing that Ryan would reveal what he really wanted.

He leaned over and spoke in a lowered voice. "I am going to offer you some good advice. Watch out for Sandoval. He tends to put his nose in places he shouldn't. If I were you, I would stay as far away from him as possible. He's bad news."

She leveled her gaze at him, feeling an instant dislike for the man standing before her. "Ryan, I suggest that you don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do." She paused, making certain he understood that she was serious by keeping her eyes locked onto his brown ones. "That is the best advice that I can give you."

She could tell by the redness on Ryan's face that he was beginning to fume. She dismissed him by turning back to her work. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him turn around and walk away.

Her thoughts went to the brief encounter with Carlos Sandoval. She had known enough men with a face that easily dropped into a grin. It was better to keep your distance and not let them rile you, even if this particular man had eyes that reminded her of dark roasted coffee.

* * *

The next afternoon, Darryl had offered to take Lucy out to lunch. She was glad for the offer since she needed to clear her head. The interview with Cruz' aunt earlier that day hadn't led to anything. The woman hadn't spoken to her nephew in five years and therefore, didn't know of any enemies that had wanted him dead.

Darryl had driven his car and brought her to a place she hadn't eaten at before. Of course, she had only been with the DPD and in Texas for a few months, so there were plenty of places she hadn't eaten at yet.

She got out of the car, looked up, and saw that the sign said Uppercuts. Then she looked to the right of that sign and saw the window with a familiar name on it. She shook her head, knowing that her partner had brought her here for more than just a meal.

She followed her partner inside and saw that the bar was set up to remind people of a boxing ring and it certainly did it with the ropes that divided the lower part of the bar with the upper level.

She followed him to the upper level and saw one person she had expected to see and two that she had never met.

"Hey, look who's here," Carlos said with a widening grin. "Oh, you guys haven't met my friends." He pointed at the blonde haired man that was sitting across from him. "This is Trent Malloy." The man gave them a welcoming smile that reached his bright, blue eyes.

Carlos then pointed at the short, brown haired woman sitting next to him whose brown eyes studied each of them carefully. "This is Kim Sutter."

Darryl smiled politely and shook hands with both of them. "I'm Darryl Sun and this is my partner, Lucy Silver."

Lucy's eyes narrowed at Carlos, before she shot a scathing look at her partner. Her partner ignored the look and took the open seat next to Kim.

Before she could respond, a tall man with brown hair and a fighter's build came to the table with three bottles of beer in his hands.

Carlos smiled and waved his hand towards the newly arrived man. "This is Butch McMann. He's the owner."

"Hello," he replied as he freed his hands by setting the bottles on the table. He held his hand out to Lucy, which she accepted.

"I'm Lucy Silver," she said as she freed her hand after shaking his hand firmly.

He gave her a welcoming smile. "I spoke with you on the phone."

She nodded her head in reply and when nothing else was said, Darryl introduced himself to the bar owner.

Carlos looked at her and opened his mouth, but she didn't let him say anything.

"No," she said firmly.

Carlos' grin faded and the playfulness left his eyes. "Look, you need to hear me out."

She leaned forward, keeping steady with his coffee colored eyes that were definitely brewing a mixture of anger and stubbornness, but she didn't let it stop her. "I know that you and your friends own Thunder Investigations upstairs, but you and your friends need to stay out of this investigation."

"We can help," Kim argued.

Lucy turned her head to look at her, and didn't soften her tone or the withering look that went along with it. "You can pass along information that you currently have but I don't need a couple of private investigators working on this case."

Darryl held his hands up in a take-it-easy gesture. "Look, Lucy, they are good at what they do and they just want to help."

She shot him a dark look. "That doesn't matter," she began but then her cell rang. "Excuse me," she said as she retrieved her cell from her pocket and walked away.

Darryl sighed as he looked at the group and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry guys."

"Hey, it was worth a shot," Carlos replied his gaze still on the fired-up strawberry-blond haired detective.

"You're still going to investigate, aren't you?" Darryl asked even though he already knew the answer.

"It's a free country," he remarked with a grin.

Darryl looked at Carlos without a smile. "I have to warn you, my partner is not one you want to cross."

His grin faded away as he grabbed his beer. "Believe me, I'm not worried. She, kind of, reminds me of Ryan. He despises me too."

"I wouldn't compare her to Ryan. With her as my partner, we've closed more cases in the past few months than he ever could in an entire year and she makes certain that we have the right person. Also, she likes donuts."

"Wow," Kim remarked. "It seems you lucked out in the partner department."

He nodded in agreement. "I trust her. I know that she has my back. There are times though when she can be stubborn as an ox and gets obsessed on a case, but that is what makes her so good at her job."

"I can see that," Butch replied.

"Of course, she's never arrested me, so that goes in my favor," Darryl grinned while Carlos raised an eyebrow at him that caused Kim, Trent and Butch to chuckle.

"I should get going," Darryl said as he stood up, having noticed that Lucy was signaling him to follow her.

Once the two detectives left, Butch went to grab their order of chili fries.

"So, what do you think about Detective Silver?" Trent asked and then pointed at Carlos, "Besides that you think she's hot."

Carlos didn't answer as he took a long sip of his beer and then thanked Butch when the bar owner had brought them the large basket of fries.

"She has integrity," Butch remarked as he took Darryl's vacated seat. "She's smart too. She had you pegged right off," he said as he pointed at Carlos.

"Well, she already knows that we are private investigators and are inclined to want to solve crimes," he joked.

"Actually," Butch said, looking fixedly at Carlos, "I am talking about the fact that you tried to charm her and she wouldn't go for it."

Kim stood up, holding back a laugh. "While you guys discuss Detective Silver, I'm going to go upstairs and work on some more research."

Once Kim had left, Trent looked at Carlos and took a long sip of his beer before he spoke. "So?"

"So?" Carlos repeated and mimicked taking a sip of his beer.

"Well, I should go check my contacts and see if they have come up with anything," Butch said as he stood up and walked away, a knowing smile on his face.

Trent waited a moment before he clasped his hands together and set them on the table. "You know, she's not going to like us investigating," he said seriously.

"Yeah. So?" Carlos responded knowing that his partner was just looking out for him. It seemed to him that Detective Lucy Silver may be a great detective but he wasn't one to back down from a case just because of a smart, pretty, fiery, strawberry blonde haired woman with the eyes of the purest emeralds.

Trent nodded his head, knowing that his partner wouldn't stop until the killer had been caught. "All right. Any ideas where we should start?"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 3: Gray Construction

Lucy knocked on the door of the trailer that had Gray Construction written on the side.

"Come in," a deep voice said on the other side of the door.

Lucy opened the door and stepped inside. Darryl followed her inside and closed the door.

She saw a tall man with a bald-head sat behind a metal desk covered with blueprints and papers. A pencil was sitting above his ear. A picture frame was on his desk, but she couldn't tell what was in it, but she guessed it had to be the man's wife and possibly some kids, since he had a ring on his wedding finger.

The man's cobalt blue eyes looked from Lucy to Darryl and then back to Lucy as the two detectives approached the desk.

"Mr. Gray?" Lucy asked.

"Yes?" The man asked.

Lucy could hear the curiosity and a touch of wariness in the man's voice. "I'm Detective Silver and this is my partner, Detective Sun."

"Nice to meet you, Detectives," he said as he shook their hands. "What can I do for you?" He asked, with raised eyebrows and a touch of curiosity in his voice.

"Your employee, Tony Cruz was found dead," Darryl said.

"Tony? Tony's dead? I can't believe it." The man shook his head, disbelief spreading across his face. "How?"

"He was murdered, Mr. Gray," Darryl replied solemnly.

"Call me Harold," he said, distractedly. "Tony is…was a good man."

"What did you know about him?" Lucy asked.

Harold's eyes focused on her. "I know Tony had some trouble in the past, but that's what it all was, was just the past. He worked hard and he was on time every day." He turned to his right and looked out the window; silence filled the room for a few minutes.

"What else do you know about Tony?" Lucy asked, pulling Harold back into the present.

"I was going to make him as my new project manager," Harold replied, sadness in his voice.

"What about your current project manager?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, no. I know what you're thinking," he said, holding out his hands in a halting gesture. "I am expanding my business and I wanted him to lead another team. He is smart and good with people."

"Is there anyone else who was looking to get that job?" Darryl asked as he pulled out his small notepad and a pen, taking notes.

Harold shrugged his heavy shoulders. "A couple of guys, but Tony said that he was going to bring them in as a foreman and a construction manager. They were happy with that."

Lucy wondered if the men were happy with the Tony getting the job. She couldn't ignore a possible motive. "Can we get the names of the two men?"

"Of course, I can give you their names but I could call them in here. If you'd like."

"Yes. That would be helpful." Lucy said and then added, "Thank you." She wondered if these interviews would provide important information. She went to stand next to her partner while Harold used his cell phone to call the men.

"What do you think?" She asked quietly.

"I think Mr. Gray is sincere." He answered thoughtfully. "We will see about Tony's coworkers."

She nodded her head in agreement. She thought about the questions that she wanted to ask.

"I'm Greg Barry," the red haired man that was just as tall as Darryl said as he held out his hand, his green eyes looking at them curiously.

Lucy nodded her head in greeting while Darryl shook the man's hand. "I'm Detective Sun and this is Detective Silver."

"I'm Roger Randolph," the other man said, his dark brown eyes revealing nothing.

Harold rose from his chair. "Detectives, I'll leave you to talk to Roger and Greg. I have some things I need to check up on."

Darryl nodded his head to Harold as the man stepped out of his trailer and into the bright sunshine.

Lucy studied the two men that may have had a motive for killing Tony Cruz. Neither of them were fidgety nor avoiding her gaze. In fact, she could tell that both of them were surprised about the man's murder.

"Was Tony having problems with anyone?" Darryl asked as he tapped his pen on his notepad.

They both shook their head no.

"Tony was a nice guy," Roger said honestly. "If someone didn't get along with him at first, it didn't take him long to get 'em to like him."

"What about you two? Any problems with Tony?" Lucy asked, watching the men closely.

"No," Roger said with a shake of his head. "I was looking forward to working with Tony on the expansion of Gray Construction."

"So was I," Roger said in agreement.

"Where were you two between 7 and 10 Saturday morning?" Darryl asked.

"I was at home with my wife and my brother-in-law. "We have been working on remodeling the kitchen." Roger explained. We were at my house all day."

Lucy looked at Greg.

"I was working with my buddy. He owns a landscaping business."

"What's his name?" Darryl asked.

"His name is Stan Simpson. He owns Greater Landscaping." Greg's eyes narrowed in thought. "We were working on the landscaping for a Mrs. Langley. She's throwing a huge party and wanted her garden to be like Eden." He raised his hands and grinned. "Her words. Not mine."

Darryl nodded his head as he scribbled in his notepad.

Lucy held back a sigh. Neither Roger nor Greg had showed a sign of hiding anything and they would look at each of their alibis.

Darryl looked at her. She nodded her head, signaling that she didn't have any other questions. He turned to the two men and told them that they could go.

Greg and Roger left the trailer.

"We should interview everyone at Gray Construction," she suggested.

"Let's go, then," her partner said as he headed toward the door.

She nodded her head and followed him out the door. She hoped that someone would give them the information that they would need to find Tony's killer. A thought formed in her mind. A thought that she didn't want to be having, but if nothing came out of interviewing Tony's coworkers, she might have to follow that thought.

* * *

Darryl looked at his notes from the interviews with Tony's boss and a few of his coworkers. He had checked Cruz's employer and he was cleaner than a mountain spring. The man had nothing but good things to say about Cruz as did the two employees that had been up for the newest project manager. He hadn't detected a hint of animosity in any of the people he and Lucy had interviewed.

He sighed as he looked at his watch wondering if he should call Malha about the possibility of being late for the special dinner that she was making him.

"You should head out," Lucy said, her eyes still locked on her computer, studying the victim's financials. "I'm sure Malha has a special dinner for you."

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "How did you know that she was making me a special dinner tonight?"

"Today is your sixth month anniversary and you've been glancing at your watch every five minutes." She turned her head away from her work and looked at him. "Go," she ordered with a wave of her hand. "This case will be here tomorrow."

He stood up and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. "I'm sure that you'll be here tomorrow, bright and early."

"Unlike you, I don't have anyone to go home too."

He raised his right eyebrow. "We could rectify that."

She looked up from the files on her desk and gave him a firm look. "Not interested in any blind dates."

His eyebrow went down and he cleared his throat. "Actually, I was thinking about a pet. Like a dog?"

"Don't have time," she protested and then added, "It wouldn't be fair to the dog."

"A cat would be a good pet for you. Cats can be left alone for long periods of time."

When she shook her head, he was about to make another suggestion but he saw a mixture of weariness and stubbornness in his partner's face. "See you tomorrow, partner."

"Good night," she responded, her gaze going back to the computer.

He closed his notes and powered down his computer. He stood up, gathered some things, and started walking.

He paused at her desk. "You're not going to be here all night, are you?"

She turned her head to look at him. "Good night, Darryl."

He raised his hands in surrender and knew it would be better to leave his partner to her work. He just wished that she had someone to go home to, as he did. His thoughts turned to the dinner that Malha had at home.

* * *

Lucy thanked her partner for the cup of coffee that he placed on her desk. It would be her third one, but he didn't know that since he had just arrived and she had been there since 5 o'clock that morning. She glanced at the time on her computer and saw that it was 7:47.

She took a tentative sip of the fresh coffee and nearly burned her tongue. Raising her arms over her head to stretch out the kinks that had developed over the past two and a half hours caused her to yawn loudly.

"So, what time did you come in this morning? Or did you even leave?" Darryl asked as he sat at his desk.

"I got here a little while ago," she responded and when he shot her a skeptical look, she ignored it and decided to change the subject. "How come this guy is so difficult to pin down? He has no family to speak off besides the aunt that hasn't spoken to him in five years. He has been in trouble before but all of his known associates are either dead or in jail. He's polite to his neighbors and none of them saw or heard anything. No one knows this guy."

"Except for one person that we know," Darryl reminded her. "Well, you do know what we could do," he said and then abruptly stopped when she shot him a look.

He hesitated for a moment. "It might be a good idea. He has lines into a lot of the underworld in Dallas."

"Don't you have lines into the underworld of Dallas?" She countered, hoping that would be the case and she wouldn't have to deal with Carlos Sandoval.

"Yes, but I'm a cop. He's a private investigator. That makes my lines fewer and a lot shorter than his lines."

She turned back to her computer screen. "Let's just work with what we have."

"We don't have anything," he pointed out.

"Let's wait for ballistics and forensics. See if anything pops up."

Thankfully, he nodded his head in agreement and went to his part of the investigation.

She leaned back in her chair and drank some coffee, thinking about Tony Cruz and who had motive to kill him. Her thoughts continued to drift toward Carlos and she wondered if he would be able to provide some information. She frowned, angry at her partner for being right about the private investigator.

* * *

Lucy set the pizza box on the counter and then turned to shut the door to her apartment. She locked it and went back into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and reached for a soda. She paused and decided that her brain needed a break, so she grabbed a beer instead.

She brought her beer and the box of pizza to the coffee table and turned the TV on. She selected _I Love Lucy_ and sat to watch the classic black and white show that always managed to help her loosen up and give her brain a break.

As she watched the goofy, but lovable character getting into another mess, her mind continued to turn to the case.

Tony Cruz seemed squeaky clean after his time in prison. They had started to look at those he had known in prison and before, but no one had a bad thing to say about him. By all appearances, he seemed to have gotten his life together. He had a good job and an apartment. She felt that he wouldn't have strayed back into the dangerous lifestyle unless something or someone had pulled him off his new road.

She reflected back to what she had learned about his history. His mother had had cancer and he had resorted to robbery to help pay for her treatments and her long list of prescriptions. It had been petty theft until he had gained a partner that was a lot more determined to get a bigger hit. Cruz had realized how far his partner would go and had contacted the police. He had testified against the man, having learned from his partner of a past robbery that had included the killing of the man who owned and worked at the mart.

Darryl had checked and found that the man that Cruz helped put in prison had been killed a year ago.

Her thoughts returned to the current case. The ballistics still hadn't come in yet and she wanted to call Connie and ask her to put a rush on it, but she knew better. Forensics didn't have anything either and she were tempted to call Kurt to see if he had anything.

She finished the bottle of beer as she thought about what Darryl had said about Carlos. Her partner might be right about asking him to get some information from his contacts. She shook her head and decided she needed another beer since her thoughts were going in that direction.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 4: The Girlfriend

She closed the driver's door of her car and looked up. Her eyes squinted against the bright sun and sweat to appear on her forehead. She wiped her brow with the back of her arm. She took a couple of deep breaths of the humid air and squared her shoulders. She wasn't going to play any games and she certainly wasn't going to allow him to give her the run around. She climbed the stairs and before she opened the door, she took another deep breath.

She stepped inside and was glad to feel the cool air being maintained by the ancient air conditioner. She looked around and saw that there was a little seating area on the left and on the right was a large desk with a computer, fax machine and the office manager, Kim. She saw two doors across the room and figured one of those had to be the offices of Trent Malloy and Carlos Sandoval.

There was a counter that began at the edge of the doorway on the right which she saw had a toaster, a bag of bagels and a nearly full coffee pot. At the far end of the counter was a mini-fridge. The aroma of freshly ground coffee reached her nostrils and she could tell that the coffee would taste nearly as good as the cup she had had when she had first woken up.

"Good morning, Detective Silver," Kim greeted cheerfully, unable to hide the suspicion in her eyes.

She looked away from the coffee to look at Kim. "Morning, Ms. Sutter," she replied, her voice neutral. "I need to speak to Mr. Sandoval."

Before Kim could answer, the door on the right opened and Carlos stepped out. Trent walked into the room from behind him, went, and stood next to Kim. Lucy noticed the blonde haired private detective raise his right eyebrow questionably at Kim but she just gave him a gentle shrug of her shoulders. They both turned their attention back to Lucy and Carlos.

Carlos grinned broadly. "Good morning, Detective Silver."

She maintained a neutral expression on her face as she looked at him. She ignored the unexpected audience but couldn't ignore a strange feeling in her stomach. She attributed it to needing another cup of coffee. "I have a few questions for you, Mr. Sandoval."

His gaze swept the room before landing back onto her. "Darryl didn't come with you?"

She ignored his question. "Cruz called you three days before he was killed. What did you two talk about?"

"The Cowboys," he answered quickly.

She didn't break eye contact with him and refused to let those coffee colored eyes affect her in any way.

He crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat. "No, he never said anything to me. He was clearly nervous and didn't want to talk about it over the phone but it took awhile for me to convince him to talk to me. That's why we were meeting."

She was starting to regret coming to Thunder Investigations but she knew that Sandoval had information or if he didn't, he would be able to get it. "You didn't know what he wanted to talk to you about?" She asked, threateningly.

A frown started to appear on his face. "Are you saying that I am withholding information?"

"Yes." She nodded her head firmly. She locked her eyes onto his and refused to be the first to look away.

Kim stood up and stood between them. "Ok, I think the staring contest needs to stop. Especially since neither of you have blinked in the last couple of minutes and it's kind of freaking me out."

Carlos shook his head at Kim and turned back to Lucy. "I want in on the investigation."

Anger filled her and her eyes revealed it. "This isn't a negotiation, it's a murder investigation. You are withholding information. And I can charge you for obstruction of justice."

Trent entered the ring. "But you won't."

"No," she whispered, letting the anger abate. Knowing that it wouldn't help in this situation.

"Why is that?" Carlos asked as he cocked his head slightly, his eyes studying her.

"I want any information that you have, Mr. Sandoval."

"When I have some information, I'll be glad to tell you and maybe you can keep me in the loop."

She gave the slightest nod of her head in response.

He smiled. "You can call me Carlos."

"Have a nice day, Mr. Sandoval." She said firmly. "Have a good day, Ms. Sutter. Mr. Malloy," she said nodding her head toward Trent and Kim. He gave a nod of his head in response.

Lucy saw Carlos grin and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the office manager was shaking her head.

She turned around and walked out the door. She was surprised when she could start feeling her mouth go from a straight line, to a small smile.

* * *

"She's interesting," Trent remarked as he picked up a fresh cup of coffee and handed it to Kim, who added the amount of sugar and milk she preferred.

"Yup," Carlos replied as he leaned back in Kim's chair, putting his hands behind his head and sighed. "She certainly is interesting. And feisty. And hot."

Kim rolled her eyes as she walked over to her desk and set her coffee down. "That's great, Carlos. Anyway, I have something for you."

"Oh yeah," Carlos replied with both of his eyebrows raised. "You ordered lunch from that Chinese place that I like?"

"No," she replied as she motioned for him to get out of her chair, which he readily complied. "I got the name and address of Tony Cruz's girlfriend."

His eyebrows rose even higher. "How did you manage that?"

A knowing smiled replaced the annoyed frown. "If I told you that, you wouldn't need to keep me around."

"Kim, we keep you around for more than your ability to ferret out information. We keep you around because you make coffee every morning."

"You're so going to get it, Carlos."

"Ok. Kim, how come you didn't mention this when Detective Silver was here?" Trent asked. "Aren't we supposed to be sharing information with her and Detective Sun?"

Before Kim could respond, Carlos spoke first. "Well, we can check it out and if the girlfriend has anything, we'll call them. We don't want to waste the homicide detectives' time, do we?"

Trent didn't answer but the frown on his face was easy to understand.

Carlos cleared his throat. "Let's just check it out. What harm would it do?"

"All right, Carlos. If we find something out, we are going to call them. They are decent detectives and it is their case too."

He jumped out of Kim's chair and followed his partner to the door.

"Oh, Carlos?" Kim said before he closed the door.

He popped his head back in. "Yeah?"

"Trent is the one that makes the coffee."

He nodded his head. "Makes sense." He grinned and avoided the stress relief ball that Kim threw at his head. He hoped that Tony's girlfriend would have some useful information. He wanted to solve his old friend's murder and he didn't mind having to solve it with a detective that got underneath his skin.

* * *

"This is the place," Carlos said as he pulled his Dodge Durango into a shady parking spot. He was surprised that there was a shady parking spot available with the intense sun ready to fry an egg on the sidewalk. "What apartment is she in?"

"Uh," Trent looked at Kim's text on his phone. "4E."

Carlos sighed as he looked at the building. "I think it's a walk up."

Trent smiled as he opened the door. "It's good exercise."

"Yeah, I guess." He replied, once he had gotten out of the Durango and closed the door.

As they headed to the apartment building, he worried about the grieving girlfriend. He didn't like to deal with crying women but he felt that it would help to balance out the guilt he felt about of Tony's death.

Trent looked at him once they stepped inside and saw that there wasn't an elevator. "It's not like you have to climb up four stories everyday."

He nodded his head as he waved his hand for his partner to go up the stairs first. "Good point."

A few minutes later, Trent stopped and looked at him over his shoulder. "The way you are huffing and puffing though, maybe you should."

Carlos paused and caught his breath. "Funny. Keep going, we have one more floor."

His partner was still chuckling when they arrived at the door that had 4B on the outside. Trent knocked on the door while Carlos took a few more deep breaths.

The door opened a crack, just enough for them to see an eye peering out and a chain lock above the person's head.

"Are you Pilar Hernandez?" Trent asked.

"Who are you?" The woman asked, her eyes darting from Trent to Carlos.

"I'm Trent Malloy." He said with a disarming smile and then pointed at Carlos. "This is Carlos Sandoval."

Carlos put on his best smile but he had a feeling it wouldn't work this time. "Miss Hernandez, we would just like to ask you a few questions. We won't take up more than a few minutes of your time." He reassured her.

She shook her head. "I am quite busy and I can't spare even a few minutes." She started to close the door when Carlos stuck his foot out. He winced as his foot got pinched.

He locked his eyes on Pilar's dark, fearful ones. "Pilar, what was Tony involved in? Did you know that I was supposed to meet him that day?"

"So?"

"He was going to tell me something."

"Yes, that something is probably what got him killed." She forcefully shook her head. "I am staying out of it. I don't know anything, anyway."

"If you don't know anything, why are you afraid to speak with us?" Trent asked.

"Go away or I will call the police," she said as she pushed on the door causing Carlos to pull his foot out of the way. She slammed the door shut.

Carlos flexed his foot to make sure nothing was broken. "Why is it that people slam their doors in our faces?"

Trent looked at him with a frown on his face. "We should probably keep an eye on her."

Carlos turned around and headed to the stairs. "Are you thinking about a protective detail?"

"Yeah. Just to be certain someone isn't after her," Trent replied, following behind him. "I'll take the first shift."

"Okay. I'll talk to Kim and see if she has found anything else about Tony that may be useful to us."

They walked down the four flights of stairs in silence until they reached the door to the outside.

"Are you going to talk to Detective Silver?" Trent asked, shutting the door to the building gently.

Carlos shook his head. "Not yet. I want to see if Ms. Hernandez has something."

"She's afraid of something. Or of someone." Trent pointed out.

"Yeah. Well, see you in a bit," Carlos said as he stepped into his car.

As Carlos drove off, he wondered if he shouldn't give the detective a call. He shook the thought out of his head. He decided that it would be best to wait. He hoped Kim would be able to give them something before the situation got worse.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 5: Caught

The mid-afternoon sun was continuing its eighth day of torture on the residents of Dallas. The humming of thousands of conditioners in the air covered most sounds. One exception was the sound of squealing tires.

Lucy put the car in park and looked over at her partner who had one hand on the bar and one on the dash. "How did you find out about his girlfriend?" She asked, holding back a grin.

He cleared his throat and released his hold. "I have my ways."

"Let me guess. Did Kurt found it for you? He probably did some intense internet search."

"Come on. You know that I have some decent computer skills for someone whose job doesn't have analyst in the title. You really think I couldn't have found his girlfriend?"

She raised an eyebrow and he raised his hands in defeat. "Ok. Ok. Yes, Kurt found her. Cruz may not have a profile online, but there are a handful of pictures online of him with his girlfriend."

She smiled. "So, what did you have to trade with Kurt to do the search for you?"

Darryl turned his head and looked at her with a suspicious smile. "All he wanted was your number."

"Really? He couldn't find my number?"

"Well, he wanted to get your number in a non-stalker way and he wanted me to chat him up."

"So, if I have coffee with him, then it will be even between the two of you?"

"Yes."

She bit her bottom lip, thinking. Kurt wasn't a bad guy and she wouldn't mind having a cup of coffee with him. He would also be a good distraction. She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Ok. Fine. Ask me first next time."

He cleared his throat. "Nothing from Carlos yet?" He asked cautiously.

She shook her head as she opened the car door and stepped out into the hot day. She wanted to step back into the car with its nice air conditioning. She turned and looked at her partner once he had stepped out of the car. "You think Cruz's girlfriend will have anything useful for us?"

"She may be the one that killed him," he replied as he looked down, thinking. He looked at her with a confident smile. "All we have to do is go and ask some questions."

She nodded her head, glad that one of them had some optimism. She scanned the surrounding area. She spotted a familiar vehicle and she felt a familiar anger mixed with something else. She didn't want to think about that particular feeling.

"You go on ahead," she said softly as she shut the door with a soft slam. "I'll be right there."

He raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction that she was looking in. He didn't ask any questions. "Uh. Ok."

She jogged over to a Dodge Durango. When she reached the driver's side, she was glad to be in the shade even if it was only a few degrees cooler than being in the hot sun. She knocked on the window.

A few seconds later, the window rolled down and a grinning face popped up.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at the man inside. "Mr. Sandoval, what are you going here?"

"Detective Silver, how are you today?" He asked casually. "It's been humid a lot lately."

"Answer my question." She resisted the urge to clench her teeth, deciding not to give him that satisfaction. She was beginning to believe that he enjoyed toying with her. Well, if he wanted an easier life, he would learn not to mess with her.

"Well, I asked how you are and you haven't answered. That's rather rude."

Her eyes narrowed, holding back the urge to pull him out of his vehicle and slap some handcuffs on him. "It's rude that I asked you a question first and you haven't answered it."

He raised his right eyebrow but kept the grin on his face. "Well, you didn't ask how I am."

She unclipped her handcuffs from her belt and dangled them before his grinning face. "Do I have to ask questions with you sitting in a smelly, stuffy room in which you are shackled to the table? Or do you prefer to answer my questions here and now?"

She was surprised when he held back a retort. He must have been certain she would have him thrown into a cell. She could certainly picture him in one. She returned the cuffs to her belt, but she kept one hand on them. "You failed to mention that you knew about Tony Cruz's girlfriend the other day."

"I didn't know about his girlfriend when you had come by for a visit," he replied, his gaze going from the cuffs to her face. "I would have told you about it."

"So, you learned about her and decided to interfere in this investigation by talking to her yourself."

"What makes you think that I've spoken with her?"

She almost laughed. "You are out here in your car. You seem to believe that she knows something, possibly something that has placed her life in danger since you are guarding her."

"Maybe you're right." He sighed, his face turning serious. He turned to face her, with a large grin on his face. "Maybe not. I could just be enjoying the day and the architecture of the building."

She shook her head and headed to the front door of the apartment building. She wasn't going to allow Carlos to distract her any longer. If he didn't want to share information, so be it.

She caught up to Darryl and followed him up the stairs. She was glad when he didn't say anything about Sandoval, but she knew he would probably ask later.

They reached Pilar's door and Darryl knocked. She could hear the door unlock and the door opened. A dark brown eye peered out in the opened door, but the chain was still latched.

"Ms. Hernandez, I'm Detective Sun and this is Detective Silver. We're here to talk to you about Tony Cruz."

Pilar shook her head. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Ms. Hernandez, Tony was murdered and you may have information that could bring his murderer to justice."

"I don't know anything. Now, leave me alone," she said as she shut the door.

Lucy heard the door latching and she turned to look at her partner.

"That's suspicious." Darryl said

"Her reluctance to speak with us could be because of the one who is in the parking lot."

He shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

She shrugged her shoulders, deciding that it was better not to argue about it. "All right. Let's head back to the office and look into Pilar. See what we can find out. She could be connected in one way or another."

She motioned for Darryl to go ahead of her. As she followed her partner, several possibilities went through her mind.

* * *

She dropped into her chair and blew out a frustrated breath. Lucy had decided not to push the woman, sensing that it would cause her to vanish.

"I still think Carlos may be involved. We found him at the scene of the crime. He could have worn gloves, changed his clothes and ditched the gun."

Darryl shook his head, since he was currently chewing a piece of a sandwich that Malha had made him for lunch. She had also provided one for Lucy, which was sitting before her, half eaten. He swallowed. "You are just upset that he didn't mention the girlfriend."

She frowned. "I am serious. He had time to ditch the clothes and the gun. He made the call to you. He knew you while he was at DPD."

Darryl sighed and set his sandwich down. "Are you saying that I am biased?"

"Yes," she replied, nodding her head. "I know how the brotherhood of law enforcement works."

His face darkened in anger. "You know that I would never let anyone in law enforcement get away with a crime, especially murder."

The fire in her eyes faded away as did her anger. She sighed as she waved a hand in a signal of peace. "I'm sorry, Darryl. You're right." She scratched a spot behind her right ear. "I am just frustrated."

"It's ok." He paused. "I know that Carlos tends to get underneath people's skins."

Fire sparked in her eyes again. "He did not get under my skin."

Darryl struggled to hide the knowing grin on his face.

Lucy picked up her sandwich. "Can we finish our lunch and then focus on the case?"

"Sure," he replied as he raised his can of soda and took a sip.

She shook her head and took a decent bite from her sandwich. She wished she could make a sandwich as good as Malha. She decided to do something nice for Malha, but she didn't have a clue. She would have to ask her partner.

Her thoughts returned to the case once the sandwich had been finished and she took some sips of her coffee. She knew that some piece of information was going to come her way but she hoped it didn't come from a certain someone that had a way of getting under her skin.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 6: Bullet Match

Darryl sat at one of the tables in the Perfect Cup, with his second cup of coffee looking at the morning light that made the shadows slink away. He was allowing himself to enjoy the morning, so his mind would be clear and open for the rest of the day. He had discovered this technique when he was little that was the best way to solve any problem. He noticed someone approaching his table and turned to look.

"Hey, anything else I can get you?" Tess asked.

He smiled at the owner of the Perfect Cup. "Well, Tess, I've had my eye on those blueberry scones."

"Good eye, detective," she said nodding her head with approval and a sunny smile. "That should tide you over until your partner arrives."

He smiled. "I think that will more than tide me over. I think I will be skipping lunch after eating that monster scone."

She laughed and then went to get the biggest blueberry scone in the case. She brought over a butter knife and a fork with the breakfast pastry.

"Enjoy," she said with another smile and a wave before she left him to attend to two customers that had just entered.

As he cut the scone in half and applied the butter as someone pulled out the other chair and sat down.

"I didn't see you come in," Darryl said as he set the knife to the side of the plate and looked up at his partner.

"I've been practicing," Lucy replied. She nodded her head toward the direction of the serving bar, having signaled Tess that she wanted her usual.

"Look, Lucy."

"I'm sorry, Darryl," she said quietly. "I know you would never do the things that I said yesterday." She paused as Tess arrived with her coffee and when the other woman left she leaned toward her partner. "I have trust issues."

He nodded as he took a bite from the enormous scone. After chewing and swallowing, he looked at his partner. "We have to trust each other. We are partners and we need to look out for one another."

His partner's mouth opened, but before she could say a word, his cell phone rang. He offered an apologetic smile as he answered the phone.

" _Good morning, Detective Sun? It's Connie_."

"Morning, Connie."

" _Are you with your partner_?" The forensic scientist asked.

"Yeah, she's here with me."

" _I have some information for you about the bullet that killed Tony Cruz. I think you guys should come to see me_."

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't question her. "Ok. We'll be right there." He ended the call and put his cell phone back into his pocket.

"She got a match?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah and she wants us to go to the lab."

"The ballistics is significant if she didn't give you any information over the phone."

He wondered why his partner had trust issues. It didn't take a detective to figure out that it had something to do with her former partner and department. He wanted to ask her, but knew that it was better to wait. If she decided to tell him, he would be there for her.

She nodded her head and picked up her coffee. "We should head out since Connie wants to see us." She drank some of her coffee.

He picked up his coffee. "That means she's found something interesting if she wants us to go to her."

She nodded her head in reply, and finished her coffee.

He decided he had better finish his scone quickly before his partner became antsy. He waved to Tess, having decided to get himself and his partner some more coffee, but into a to-go cup. He had a feeling that they would need the extra caffeine.

* * *

Darryl knocked on the door. When he got an affirmative to enter, he opened the door and motioned for his partner to enter first.

They entered the visitor's area, since the lab was restricted to technicians. It was to maintain the purity of the evidence.

"Hi, Connie," Lucy said as she took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Hi, Lucy. Hi, Darryl," Connie said as she took motioned for Darryl to take a seat.

He greeted her and decided to take a seat on the well-worn sofa while Connie took the chair facing the two detectives.

"What do you have for us?" Lucy asked.

"I've examined the bullet from your case and it just happens to be a match to another murder that happened a week ago. A man by the name of Joe Smith."

Darryl looked at his partner who shook her head. Neither of them had come across the name while looking into Tony's life.

Lucy turned and looked at the forensic scientist. "So who's working that case?"

"Ranger Walker and his team," she replied as she handed her report over to Lucy.

Darryl smiled. "We've worked with them once before."

"Yeah," Connie replied as she stood up. "I gave Ranger Walker a call just before you arrived and told him that you guys were going to meet him at his office."

"Thanks, Connie," Lucy said as she rose from her seat. "Let us know if you find anything else."

"I'm not certain if there is anything else. It looks like it's the same with Joe Smith's case. The brass was taken and there were no foreign fibers, hairs or fingerprints."

"Ok," Darryl said after thanking Connie and the forensic scientist had left. "Let's go see Walker and see if they have heard about our man." He got up from the sofa, which had sunk in about an inch.

"At least we are in the Ranger's neighborhood," his partner pointed out as they headed out of the building.

"It is rather convenient, isn't it?"

"I think that's what Connie had in mind when she wanted to see us in person."

"I thought she wanted to see us because she enjoys our company," he quipped as he opened the car door.

His partner smiled. "I think that was a part of it."

He returned is partner's smile and got into the car. He was glad to be working with the Rangers again and hoped that they would have something to help them with their murder case.

* * *

Darryl and his partner had arrived at Ranger Headquarters. They had filled the Rangers in on their case. He hoped that with the combined information, they would be able to resolve both murders quickly, but he had a feeling that it wasn't going to be _that_ easy.

"So, the two cases are related," Sydney said as she handed Darryl and Lucy cups of fresh coffee.

"Related by a bullet," Darryl remarked as he blew on the steaming coffee. He wondered if he really needed another cup of coffee.

Gage nodded his head. "We'll have to see if the two victims are somehow related."

"I'll take a quick look," Trivette replied as he sat down at his computer and went to work. After five minutes, he was shaking his head. "I haven't found a connection between Cruz and Smith. Nothing obvious, anyway."

Darryl was disappointed, but that wouldn't stop any of them from looking even deeper. He just wondered how deep they would have to go to find something. Anything.

"There is one connection. The murder weapon," Walker pointed out.

Lucy nodded her head in agreement. "Find the murder weapon will lead us to the murderer and the connection between the two victims."

"Easier said than done, Lucy," Gage replied.

"Joe Smith was going to testify against Eli Parker. Does either name ring a bell?" Sydney asked.

"No," Lucy replied while Darryl shook his head.

"Parker owns a bunch of hotels and they believe he is running an escort service," Sydney answered. "As well as some connections to drugs and money laundering."

"So, is there a connection between Parker and Cruz?" Gage asked.

"They didn't run in the same circles," Darryl remarked.

"As far as we know, anyway. Tony could have been involved in something with Parker before he had gone straight," Walker pointed out.

"Nothing is showing up on my search, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have come across one another," Trivette said.

"What did Smith do for a living?" Darryl asked.

"He owned an electronics store," Trivette answered.

"How was he connected to Parker?" Lucy asked as she set her cup down. Darryl noticed, and wasn't surprised, that it was empty.

"Parker used Smith to create videos of his escorts in his hotels with some prominent people," said Walker as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Blackmail," Darryl said, shaking his head.

"Yes," Sydney said, nodding her head. "He was even using Smith's store to launder money. Even to buy and sell drugs."

"We got surveillance from the cameras at the electronics store," Gage said.

"Why didn't you say so before?" Lucy asked as she went over to Trivette's desk.

"I'll bring them up right now, but I have to warn you, it only shows the past two weeks. That's how long Smith kept the tapes."

"Well, we'll see if Tony stopped there. If he did, it might lead us to a connection between our two cases," Lucy said as she looked at the computer.

"Let's hope so," Darryl replied. He hoped that the video would show Tony Cruz going into Joe Smith's store. At least, that would reveal a connection between the two murdered men.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 7: New Information

They had watched more than half of the video from Joe Smith's electronics store. No one had stood out until the second to last tape.

"Wait, pause it right there," Lucy said to Trivette. "Recognize her, Darryl?"

He leaned in. The picture was a little fuzzy, but he did see Pilar Hernandez standing inside Joe Smith's electronics store. "Yup, Cruz' girlfriend." He looked at the date of the video. "Two days before he was murdered."

"Well, now we have something we can ask Ms. Hernandez," Lucy said.

"Right," Darryl agreed as he stood up straight.

"Uh, it might be better if Lucy and I go," Sydney suggested, as she stood up from her desk.

"Why?" Gage questioned, his head poking out from his computer screen.

"She's afraid and she might feel more comfortable around women," Walker pointed out, agreeing with Sydney.

"All right," Trivette said. "I'll send you an image of her to your phone, Sydney."

"Thanks, Trivette," she responded with a wave as she followed Lucy out the door.

A few moments after Sydney and Lucy had left; Darryl cleared his throat and looked at the remaining Rangers. "There's something that I forgot to mention."

"Ok," Trivette responded, with a hesitant tone of voice mixed with curiosity.

"There was someone that found Cruz dead and was a suspect. Well, actually, Lucy suspected him, but I knew he didn't kill him." He hesitated, wondering how the Rangers were going to react to the news.

"Where are you going with this, Darryl?" Walker motioned for him to continue.

"Well, Walker. Carlos Sandoval found Cruz dead. Cruz was once Carlos' informant."

"Ok, why was that hard to say? He has been cleared and he is a friend of ours. You could've told us that." Walker answered,

"Well…."

"Are you going to get to the point or not?" Gage asked impatiently.

He ran a hand through his hair before answering. "Lucy doesn't know that you guys are friends with Carlos."

"Why are you making sound like a bad thing?" Trivette questioned.

"Because it is a bad thing. Lucy despises Carlos." When they gave him a questioning look, he sighed. "She arrested him, since he was at the scene of the crime. She feels that he may still be involved, but I think what really irked her was the fact that he found Cruz' girlfriend before we did."

Trivette laughed and slapped his desk with his hand. "Are you serious? This is going to be the best case."

"Why do you say that?" Darryl asked, surprised at the Ranger's reaction and at the large smiles on Walker and Gage's faces.

"It's going to be very entertaining," Trivette explained. "You know that we are going to have Thunder Investigations in on the case with us, right?"

Walker chuckled while Gage nearly doubled-up with laughter.

He looked at them and began to chuckle. "You're right," he agreed that it would be entertaining to see the bickering between Carlos and his partner, as long as they decided not to pull the spectators into the ring with them.

* * *

Lucy put the car in park and unbuckled her seatbelt. She hoped that this time, Pilar would give them something useful. She wasn't going to be holding back. She questioned why she had held back last time and a disturbing image entered her brain. The image that busted into her mind was of coffee-colored eyes and a fabulous grin. She shook her head, clearing the image from her mind.

"Not a bad place to live," Sydney commented.

She hoped that Sydney hadn't noticed anything. "No, but I would rather have better neighbors," she said with a groan, seeing Trent heading towards them as they got out of the car.

Her gaze lingered on Trent's Stingray Convertible and admired it for a moment before the PI reached them. She was about to open her mouth to speak when Trent smiled and looked at Sydney.

"Hi, Sydney. How are you?"

"Hi, Trent," she greeted with a large smile on her face.

She looked from Sydney to Trent and back again. "You two know each other?"

"Yes," the Ranger responded with a laugh.

The PI nodded his head. "I've known Sydney for awhile. Hello, Detective Silver."

She nodded her head in greeting, still in minor shock as she looked at Sydney.

Sydney grinned. "Yeah, all of us know Trent. Actually, we know him because Trent and Walker have known each other for a long time."

He nodded his head. "I've known him since I was a kid. He taught me Karate."

She nodded her head, holding back the scream that wanted to escape. "We should get going," she said to Sydney as she turned and headed to Pilar's building.

"Ok, nice seeing you again, Detective Silver," Trent called out.

"What was that about?" Sydney questioned as she followed Lucy into the building.

"It's a long story," she answered as she started up the stairs. "She's in 4B"

"Ok."

She was glad when the Ranger decided not to ask any questions while they made their way up the stairs. Once they reached the fourth floor, she went to Pilar's apartment and knocked. "Dallas PD and Texas Rangers. We need to speak to you Ms. Hernandez," she spoke firmly. She wasn't going to leave until she helped them.

Pilar opened the door and peered out. "What do you want?"

After Sydney showed Pilar her badge, she held up her phone, showing Pilar the image they had of her inside the electronics store. "We have evidence that you visited a man by the name of Joe Smith. He was recently murdered and we believe his death is connected to the death of your boyfriend."

Her eyes widened. She licked her lips. "So, I went to a store," she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know a Joe Smith."

Lucy could tell she was lying by the way Pilar was avoiding eye contact with them.

Sydney slowly nodded her head. "I see," she said as she returned her phone to her pocket. "Joe Smith is a common name, but you must have met one at one time in your life. I have a feeling it's the one that's sitting in the morgue right now."

"How about the name, Eli Parker?" Lucy prodded and when Pilar's face drained of all color, Lucy knew she was on to something.

The terrified woman shook her head. "Look, Tony's dead because he was nosing into things he shouldn't have. I don't want to end up dead too."

"You do have a PI guarding you downstairs." Lucy reminded her.

"Yeah, and those two nosy PI's are definitely going to get me killed."

She decided not to address how the woman knew Parker. She had a feeling that it wouldn't get them anywhere. "We want a name of the man who killed Tony," Lucy declared, locking her gaze with Pilar. She could see the woman wavering, but she held on, knowing that if she did, she would get a name.

Pilar broke eye contact with her. "Go see a man named Donny Oswald." She firmly closed the door.

Lucy heard the sound of several locks clicking into place. She looked at Sydney. "You know the name?"

"It was a possibility, but with Pilar mentioning his name. It's the best lead we've had in awhile."

She nodded her head, sensing that Sydney had left something out about Oswald. Of course, the fear in the woman's eyes when she brought up Oswald gave her some indication at the man's personality. She was more interested at the look at Eli Parker's name. She filed information that for later when it could be useful.

She looked at the Ranger. "You want to make the call?"

"Yup."

Lucy followed Sydney down the stairs. She blocked out Sydney's side of the conversation as she thought about what she had learned today and she wasn't thinking about Donny Oswald.

* * *

The door opened to the office. Darryl turned his head and watched as Sydney and his partner entered. He saw his partner look at him, green eyes flashing.

"Darryl," she said, "may I speak with you for a moment? Out here." She motioned towards the hallway with a tilt of her head.

He sighed and saw Walker, Trivette and Gage give him a look of pity before he stood up. He heard them quietly chuckling behind him as he walked past a baffled Sydney.

As he stepped out into the hall, he closed the door behind him. "So, what's up?" He asked his partner, who was standing on the other side of the hallway, smiling darkly at him.

Before she could speak, two Rangers passed by them, one of them took a long, sly look at Lucy, but she didn't seem to notice. Darryl was glad that she didn't because he knew that she was ready to rumble with anyone that crossed her. On second thought, he wished that she _had_ noticed, so he wouldn't be taking the worst of it.

"You didn't tell me that Carlos Sandoval knows the Rangers. Actually, he's friends with the Rangers as is Trent Malloy. For a long time."

He scratched above his left ear. "I knew I forgot to tell you something."

"Uh-huh," she said, crossing her arms and glaring at her partner.

"I didn't believe it was relevant."

"Really?" She exclaimed as she took two steps towards him. "You didn't want to tell me because you know that Sandoval will become a part of this investigation even more than the way he has already burrowed himself into it."

"Ok," he said, holding up his hands in surrender, which he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. "I knew that was going to happen once we met with the Rangers. So, why don't we go back inside, invite Thunder Investigations here so we can all work together to solve _two_ murders and take down Eli Parker and his businesses?"

He watched her closely, trying to judge her reaction before she spoke or threw a punch at him. She was harder to read than a tax book.

"Fine. Make the call." She went past him and returned to the Rangers' offices.

He took a deep breath before he pulled his cell out of his pocket. A grin spread across his face as he called Carlos. He couldn't wait to see what would happen next.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 8: Martin and Snyder

Carlos and Kim entered the offices of the Rangers. He saw that all of the Rangers were there as well as Darryl and Detective Silver. He nodded his head in greeting to Darryl, who gave him and Kim a welcoming smile while his partner's face was stone.

Gage jokingly asked if Kim if Trent was hanging out at Uppercuts catching a college football game, but she replied that he was looking after Pilar Hernandez.

Sydney hit Gage on the arm and asked them if they wanted a drink. Carlos declined while Kim asked for a diet soda. Once the Ranger handed Kim her drink, Carlos and Kim took a seat in some chairs that someone had most likely fetched from another room.

He saw that Lucy was ignoring him but he could see her eyes flutter towards him on occasion. He held back a smirk, knowing that would just infuriate the pretty blonde detective even more. He smirked anyway and was glad to see her eyes narrow. He turned his attention to Trivette, who had been researching Donny Oswald.

Trivette cleared his throat and began once everyone had either settled in a chair or leaning against a wall. "I checked Oswald's record and he's cleaner than a freshly laundered football jersey. I called some of my contacts in some other branches of law enforcement and they have nothing on Donny Oswald."

"What does he do for a living?" Sydney asked.

"He's a handyman."

"That's it?" Kim exclaimed as she looked around the room. "How is he connected to this Parker guy?"

"We don't know yet." Trivette answered with a frown. "This guy is a mystery."

"So, we should go have a chat with him?" Gage suggested, not sounding particularly confident.

"No, that might tip the guy off," Darryl pointed out. "Not that we have anything on him we could use."

"He might also figure out that we got his name from Pilar," Lucy said. "Pilar was terrified when she mentioned Oswald."

"She knows something. Too bad we can't get her to talk," Sydney said squeezing an empty bottle of water, which made a loud crunching noise.

"We could bring her in and interrogate her, but I don't think that would help," Carlos said with a frown. We'll need to find some sort of in." His forehead furrowed in thought. "Maybe, someone needs to go undercover."

Lucy leaned forward, looking intently at him and started to shake her head forcefully. "No. No way."

His eyebrows rose. "You're worried about me going undercover, Detective?"

She casually leaned back in her chair. "Only about how much paperwork I would have to do when you get yourself killed."

"We'll keep the undercover idea on the backburner." Walker interrupted before the two could start fighting and giving the detective and the PI a warning look.

"All right," Carlos agreed. He decided not to push, at least not right now. "I might know someone who could have some useful information on Oswald, maybe even Parker."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Lucy asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Well," he said leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees. "I don't know if he'll help. He tends to be a bit timid, so it tends to get difficult asking for information."

"How will you get him to help?" Kim asked with a bewildered look on her face.

"Well," he said he leaned back and rubbed his chin while giving Lucy a mischievous smile. "I think having Detective Silver along would be useful."

"All right, you two should head out," Walker said while nodding his head. "Let's hope that your friend will give us some information that we could actually use."

Lucy and Carlos rose from their seats. He did a sweeping bow, allowing her to go first. It looked like she was going roll her eyes, but she held back. She walked past him and out the door.

He smiled when Gage shot him a wink. He saw that Sydney and Kim had matching frowns on each of their faces, but the two older Rangers were holding back grins.

He caught up to Lucy at the elevator, where she was waiting for it to arrive.

"So, who's your friend?" She asked, not even looking at him.

"I'd rather not mention names or details. Maybe I should blindfold you." When he glanced at her and saw her eyes getting darker he laughed. "I was joking. Anyway, he tends to get anxious around…"

"Cops?"

"I was going to say women but he doesn't care for cops either. We probably shouldn't mention to him that you're a cop. He won't figure you out for one anyway."

"You used to be one."

"Yes, but I was a special cop."

She didn't respond as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

He tried to get a read on the detective as they got on the elevator. As they headed to the parking garage, he couldn't decipher her mood. He could only tell when she was angry. Her eyes would become a dark green. She would get a small tinge of red on her cheeks and on the tips of her ears, which he thought was interesting and cute.

* * *

Carlos had driven to his contact's house. Lucy had headed to the front but Carlos waved at her to follow him. He went around the right side of the house. Opened the gate and went into the backyard. He headed toward the outbuilding that looked like a rather large, ramshackle shed but he knew appearances could be deceiving.

He knocked on the door three times. Waited for three seconds, and then knocked three more times.

"A coded knock?" Lucy asked looking at the door.

"Yup. It gets better." He heard the door unlock and he reached out, and pushed open the door.

He motioned for Lucy to go first. He followed her and closed the door behind them. After allowing his eyes to adjust to the gloom, his gaze lingered on the three large computer screens, illuminating the posters on the walls. The posters consisted mostly of various sci-fi movies and television series, but here and there were images of gorgeous blonde haired women with seductive smiles and green eyes.

Lucy stopped and looked over her shoulder, sending him an annoyed and knowing glance. He replied with a shrug and a grin.

The man, sitting in the chair in front of the screens, spun around and looked at them. Even though he was sitting down, he was a tall man, but he was heavyset, like a wrestler.

He clapped his hands and a light turned on overhead. He leaned forward, his eyes looking intently at Lucy. He turned to Carlos with a frown. "You brought a cop, here? Are you out of your mind, Carlos?"

"Yeah, but I thought you knew that I was out of mind," he joked but then he cleared his throat. "Look, Martin, she's cool."

Martin took his glasses off his round face and cleaned them with a cloth that he pulled from his shirt pocket. He had a deep frown on his face as he put his glasses back on and studied Lucy once more before shrugging his shoulders. "Well, if you say so. Give me a second." He spun around, hands flying over the keyboard and several screens changed.

"I thought you said he wouldn't figure out that I was a cop," she whispered, once Martin turned back to his collection of screens.

"You need to learn to tone down that deathly interrogation stare. I'm just surprised he didn't wet his pants, and I don't mean that because of the stare." He pointed at a poster of a woman that looked like the detective, but she had a sexy pout rather than a scowl.

He saw her open her mouth to argue, but Martin spun back to face them. "All right, Carlos, what do you want?"

"Well, Martin, you know _everything_ that goes on in Dallas."

"Not just Dallas," he remarked with cautious tone and a slight frown.

Carlos ignored that and continued. "I'm sure that you've heard of Eli Parker and Donny Oswald."

He saw that Martin's face turned to a faint green and then became pale.

"Why are you mentioning those two?" The man hissed looking around as though mentioning those two would summon them to that very spot.

Carlos nodded his head, glad that he was right. "We need some information on them and I know you are the one to have it." He leveled his gaze, knowing not to back down.

Martin shuffled his feet. "No, no way. Those two are bad news."

"How do you know about them?" Lucy asked, her tone a mixture of annoyance and anger. "Everything we know Parker is suspicions and rumors. Nothing sticks on him. Oswald seems like the perfect citizen."

Martin turned his eyes to Lucy, his cheeks suddenly changing from pasty white to a humble pink. "I am wired into all of the happenings in this city. From the mundane to the darkest secrets of those who believe that their secrets are safe."

Carlos saw Lucy's frown deepen and disbelief reflect in her eyes.

He leaned forward and whispered, as though there were ears on the walls. "Everyone leaves a trace of what they do or don't do. Sometimes, not doing or saying something, means something as long as you have the eyes and the ears to see beyond the walls people have put up."

He turned away, wheeling his chair over to a file cabinet. He stood up, opened a drawer and pulled something out. He sat back down and pushed his chair to his keyboard. He leaned toward to his computer and put the object, which happened to be a flash drive, into the USB slot on the computer. He fiddled with the mouse and keyboard for a few moments.

Carlos had known Lucy's presence would help, he was just surprised at how easy Martin was handing over the information he had collected.

"This won't take long." Martin said turning and looking at them. His computer beeped once the information had been copied onto the flash drive. "This is all I have on Oswald and Parker." He handed the flash drive to Carlos.

He pocketed the drive. "Thanks, Martin." He motioned toward Lucy to head towards the door and took one-step before Martin cleared his throat.

"Carlos?"

"Martin?" He responded.

"Don't come here again. Without her."

"Of course not, Martin."

He saw Martin purse his lips, but didn't saw anything as Carlos and Lucy left his sanctuary.

Once they had returned to the car and pulled out of the driveway, he looked over at Lucy. "Well, that was easy."

"Yeah, let's just hope that information helps," she said as she pointed towards Carlos' pocket that held the flash drive.

"Even with the deathly interrogation stare, you helped because he has a thing for pretty blondes with green eyes."

Her eyes drilled into him. "I noticed."

"Hey, he likes blonde women with green eyes. Don't you have a type?"

"No," she responded firmly as she focused ahead while Carlos took a left turn.

"Come on. Everyone has a type. Even if it's a little thing. Some people like blondes and some people prefer red heads. It's not a big deal."

"Carlos?"

He wondered if he had her interested in the conversation. He was curious what she was going to say. "Yeah?"

"We're being followed. Blue car, two cars back."

He frowned with disappointment but was curious as to who was following them. He casually looked in the rear view mirror. "Ok, I have an idea."

"Of course you do," she sighed as she braced herself.

He grinned as he made a sharp right turn and gunned it.

He made a sharp turn down an alley and waited. He saw the car drive past. "Yup, definitely following us," he commented.

He waited a second and then backed out of the alley. He hit the gas, passed the car and then he hit the brakes.

The driver had good reflexes because the blue car had slammed on its brakes coming to a complete stop.

Lucy opened the door and held her gun at the driver. "Dallas PD. Shut off the engine and step out of the car."

The driver turned out to be an African-American man. He shut off the car and stepped out of the car, his hands raised slightly in the air. He had a classic Van Dyke facial hair and his hair was neatly trimmed.

"Who are you?" Lucy commanded.

"I'm Jake Snyder. A reporter with the Dallas Gazette." The man's smile seemed to disarm the detective, since she lowered her gun. A little.

Carlos studied Snyder noting that the reporter was about six-foot-two. He had noticed that the man's stride was like he were a runner but the way he carried himself, had the PI thinking that the reporter had done some boxing or marital arts.

"Why were you following us?" Carlos asked, his eyes narrowing, seeing that Snyder's eyes hadn't left Lucy.

He shrugged and smiled. "No reason."

"Fine. Let's go, Sandoval," Lucy said as she holstered her gun and turned back towards the car.

"Wait, wait," Snyder pleaded, a serious look on his face replacing the smile. "I have a few questions for you."

The detective turned around. "I suggest that you leave now before I decide to arrest you."

Carlos was surprised and impressed that the man didn't flinch at her tone.

"What cause do you have for arresting me?" Snyder asked.

"Reckless driving and endangerment," she responded as she turned away from Snyder and got into the car, not seeing the surprised and somewhat amused look from the reporter. It looked as though the reporter was going to make a comment about Carlos' driving but he seemed to have decided against it.

Carlos chuckled softly as he got into the car, but he had a feeling that Snyder wasn't going to give up. He had a feeling that Lucy thought the same thing. He wondered what Lucy would do to Snyder if he continued to follow this investigation.

He glanced at the detective wondering what she would have done to him if she didn't need him on this case. He decided it was best that he didn't know, but he was looking forward to see what would happen to Snyder once Lucy decided he was interfering with the case.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 9: Shocks and Tea

Carlos sighed and took a sip of hot coffee from the thermos. He looked at the clock and saw that it was two in the morning. It had been quiet and peaceful since his arrival four hours ago when he had replaced Trent. The artificial light from the street lamps kept the area well lit and it kept him awake.

As his eyes scanned the area, his thoughts turned to the flash drive that he and Detective Silver had received from Martin, one of his contacts. Martin was an unusual and rather unique contact with an attraction to blonde-haired women with bright, light green eyes. It had been useful to bring the DPD detective since she had those attributes even though she had a tint of red in her hair and her eyes were a dark green.

He shook his head, shaking away the image of the detective and having remembered that he had noticed some flecks of gold in her eyes. The flash drive had details of fourteen unsolved murders within the past decade. Martin had found that the victims had been connected to Eli Parker and that Danny Oswald was the most likely suspect in having committed the murders. With a list of those murders, they decided to go over each one of those cases with a fine-toothed comb, hoping that they would find something, anything, that the original investigators had missed. Carlos had thankfully had a chance to bow out of having to read the many boxes of case files since he had to replace Trent on protective duty.

He stretched his muscles, making certain that he wouldn't get too comfortable.

Having seen movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head and saw a dark figure run from Pilar's building to the building next door.

He quietly opened the door of his Dodge Durango, closed it without a sound and rushed down the alleyway between the two buildings. He paused as he reached for his gun but he hesitated. It could have been some kid going for a romantic night on the town or to a party. He didn't want to hurt or mentally scar a kid for life.

He saw movement on his left but before he could react, he felt something hit his side. It hurt. He felt his muscles locking up and it took him a few seconds to realize that he was on the ground. He ordered his brain to move his legs and arms, but his body didn't respond.

Something shifted in the shadows and he felt his heart beating a little faster.

"Well, I'm not surprised," Pilar whispered as she stepped out of the darkness, holding a Taser in her hand. "I can't have you messing up my life. Tony is dead because he couldn't keep out of my past."

He tried to move his lips to ask her what her past had to do with his friend's death, but he didn't even feel a tremble.

"I don't need you to lead them to me," she said as she hit the button, shocking him again.

In the darkness, he felt a hand on his arm and as he slowly opened his eyes, he saw familiar dark green eyes looking back at him. He felt a slight shock and he knew it wasn't the Taser.

"Sandoval?" Lucy questioned, her eyes narrowing as she studied his face. "You ok?"

He nodded his head, but other than wiggling his fingers and toes, it was all he could do.

She nodded her head. "All right. We'll have to give you a few minutes." She paused. "Pilar ran, didn't she?"

He nodded his head and she sighed.

After a few moments, he was able to move his legs and his arms. When he struggled to get up, Lucy grabbed his arm. "Let me help you up."

"Tha…thanks," he stammered out. He didn't realize the amount of physical strength that was in the detective.

"I'll drive you home and we'll make some calls."

He nodded his head or he thought he did. He couldn't believe that Pilar had gotten the drop on him. He was worried about her and if something happened to her, it would be his fault.

* * *

"Nice apartment," Lucy said as she followed Carlos inside.

"Thanks," Carlos replied as he took off his jacket and draped it haphazardly on the recliner. He carefully lied down on the couch and placed his arm across his eyes. He had called Trent and told him what had happened.

Lucy shook her head and went to the stove. She grabbed the kettle and filled it with water.

Carlos poked his head over the couch. "What are you doing?"

"I am making you some tea," she answered as she set the kettle on the burner and turned on the stove.

"Tea?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, tea," she replied as she entered the living room and sat in the recliner.

"I appreciate the ride home, Detective, but the tea seems more than I thought you would do."

"Oh?" She asked as she looked around.

"Yeah, I thought you would just drop me off and head out."

"I don't have any tea here. So, where did you get it?"

"I had some with me."

"You carry tea with you?"

"Not usually."

He raised a quizzical eyebrow and she sighed. She opened her mouth to answer but then the teakettle whistled and she jumped out of the chair and went into the kitchen.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Carlos asked as he sat up.

She didn't answer. She poured the hot water into the cup over the tea bag that was waiting at the bottom. She returned the kettle to the stove. She picked up the cup and brought it over to the sitting area. She set it down on the coffee table in front of the P.I. She took a seat in the recliner but she didn't lean back. Instead, she leaned forward and clasped her hands together. Her deep sigh filled the silence. She looked at Carlos with a mixture of weariness and knowing.

"She's in danger and I know that Parker is going to have her killed. It is only a matter of time until the call comes in."

He frowned, noting the lines on her face and the dark patches under her eyes. "That's a rather dark outlook."

"I see it as more of reality." She shrugged and pulled a stray tendril of hair behind her ear. "I've come across this situation many times."

"What? Working with two private investigators, especially one who is tall, dark and extremely handsome?" He said with a grin and was pleasantly surprised to see her lip twitch but she held back a smile.

"No one knows where she might have gone?" She asked the glimmer of humor gone.

He wondered what the Detective found humor in because he wanted to see and hear her laugh. He shook his head as he answered her question. "No clue. Kim checked but it didn't seem as though she has any family or friends. I think Tony was all she had."

"Maybe. Maybe not. We know that she is hiding things."

He nodded his head in agreement as his mind wandered.

"How's the tea?"

"Oh, uh," Carlos replied as he picked up the cup and took a tentative sip. He was surprised that because it wasn't overly sweet and it didn't taste like lawn clippings. "It's not bad. Where did you get it?" He took another sip, his eyes locked on her face.

"My partner's wife, Malha. She has her own natural remedies store."

"Oh, sounds interesting." He frowned and looked at the empty mug in his hands.

"There isn't anything else that you could have done, Carlos," Lucy said softly, yet firmly. "Not when Tony was murdered and not now when Pilar refuses help."

He shook his head and set the cup down. "I don't believe that, especially since Pilar is out there."

"We have a B.O.L.O. out for her."

"There must be some place she feels safe."

"She has no living relatives and her co-workers told us that she keeps to herself."

"Unless. Unless, she's gone to someone from her past."

"Yes, but what we've determined is that her past in shrouded in mystery."

"Yes, yes. Maybe she used another name."

"That's possible." She raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Carlos?"

He smiled as he got up from the couch. "Let's go see Kim at the office."

"At," she paused as she consulted her watch, "4:30 in the morning?"

"Yeah, what can I tell ya? She's dedicated." He shrugged his shoulders and bounded to the door. He knew Kim would find something because she always did.

"All right." She stood up and followed him to the door.

He picked up his keys and he opened the door. He bowed and waved the Detective through. She shook her head as she walked passed him. He grinned and shut the door behind him.

He followed her as they descended the building and entered the parking area. "Let's get some coffee on the way," Carlos suggested, once they had reached Lucy's car and had gotten in.

"The tea wasn't enough for you?"

"It's not that. That coffee that you brought me the day you arrested me," he paused, thinking about that coffee. "It was…life altering."

Her smile was bright as she started the car and put it into gear. "Yes, it certainly is a powerful coffee." She turned on the turn signal, checked both ways before she pulled out of the parking spot, heading in the direction of the coffee shop. "We should bring a cup to Kim as well."

"Well, yeah. She's not the one that makes the decent coffee at the office."

"Trent does."

He was shocked that she had known about Trent's coffee. He looked at her suspiciously but with his eyes twinkling. "Why do you say that?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I have a sense about coffee and those who make coffee. Plus, the lack of a lingering smell of coffee in your apartment indicated that you don't make coffee too often."

"Wow, you have one of those hyper-sensitive noses."

"Just for coffee."

He laughed and was surprised to hear the Detective laugh. It didn't sound like he thought it would, it was more melodic than he thought it would be. It didn't matter whether her laugh was melodic or filled with snorts; he would have liked her laugh either way. That stunned him and frightened him at the same time.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 10: Warnings

"Hey, Kim," Carlos greeted as he set the coffee down on the office manager's desk. He was glad that he had been right and that Kim was at Thunder Investigations at almost five in the morning.

Kim picked up the coffee and took a sniff. "That smells heavenly."

"Wait until you drink it," he remarked, knowing that Kim would appreciate the deliciousness of the coffee.

"What's up?" Kim asked after looking from him to Lucy and back to him with a strange and questioning look on her face.

"We think Pilar might have an alias," he answered.

"We think alike. I was just looking into that," Kim reported, as she pointed at her computer screen. "I looked at those named Pilar who had once worked for Eli Parker. She had used her mother's maiden name, Flores."

"She knows Parker and the hit man," Lucy declared. "That's the connection we have been looking for but we still don't know why she went to Joe Smith's electronics store two days before Cruz was murdered."

"Tony may have found out about Pilar's past and he was looking into it?" He suggested, but he felt as though there were more to it than a passing interest.

"She was charged with prostitution," Kim filled in.

"Any other names pop up along with Pilar Flores?" He questioned rather animatedly, glad that something was coming into focus.

The office manager smirked. "Yes. In fact, it is a name that has occurred several times among Pilar Flores."

He placed his hands on Kim's desk and leaned towards her, knowing how she could get sometimes. "Kim, what's the name?"

"Daisy O'Mara."

"Alias?" The DPD detective questioned.

"Yup, her real name is Blanche Rose Fletcher," Kim answered as she shook her head and laughed. "Apparently, her mother was a fan of the _Golden Girls_."

"Address?" He questioned, that strange feeling he got whenever the case was beginning to get on the right track.

"I'll send it to your cell. Both of your cells," Kim amended, apparently having seen Lucy about to ask for it be sent to her as well.

"Thanks, Kim." Carlos said as he spun around and headed to the door.

"Yes, thank you," Lucy spoke sincerely, following Carlos.

"Keep bringing me this delicious coffee and that's all the thanks that I need."

"You got it," Lucy replied as Carlos motioned for her to go through the door first.

As they left Thunder Investigations, they headed to Lucy's car. "Let's go see Daisy. Hopefully, she will know where Pilar is or where she would go."

"Well, we can stop for a cup of coffee first. Who knows if Daisy is there at five in the morning," he suggested as he got into the car.

He watched as she nodded her head, but he knew that her thoughts were on Pilar and the increasing chance that the woman would be found dead. He hoped it wasn't true because it would be his fault if Pilar were dead. He had failed Tony but he wasn't going to fail Pilar.

* * *

Lucy was thinking about the case on the way to Daisy O'Mara's condo. The murders of Tony Cruz and Joe Smith had been on her mind. Eli Parker was responsible as was his hitman. She hoped that Daisy would have the information they needed to find Pilar alive.

She parked across the street from the condo. After she shut off the car, she studied the surrounding area and saw that some people where beginning to wake up, retrieving newspapers, walking dogs or even heading off to work, appointments and school. The normal hours of some jobs, that never really appealed to her.

"So, ready?" Carlos asked.

There was something in the private investigator's voice that she couldn't identify but she knew that he was anxious to find Pilar before Parker's men found her first.

"Let's go. She should be up."

"And if not, we are going to be waking her up," he remarked.

He rapped his knuckles on the door.

The door opened and the first thing that caught her attention was the painted nails that were painted red with white polka dots. The bleach-blonde hair

"I don't know where Pilar is at. I haven't spoken to her in, like, six months."

"If you do hear from her, please call," Carlos said as he handed her his card.

She knew that Daisy was lying. She could tell by the way that the woman nervously played with her hair. She also knew that if pushed too hard, they wouldn't get anything out of her. She knew that she had to try or Pilar would die.

Lucy took a step forward. "Pilar's life is in danger. Her boyfriend, Tony, was killed not long ago and we believe that she knows who did it and could help bring his killer to justice. You may not wish to be involved, but we know and you know that you are in deep in this as Pilar. Don't make the same mistake she is making by not helping us."

"Look, I want you two to leave." Daisy tapped her fingers on the doorframe and then pointed toward the street.

"All right, I've given you fair warning that your friend is in danger and you may be as well."

Daisy slammed the door and they could both hear the sound of locks clicking.

Carlos turned and looked at Lucy. "That was a little, harsh."

"Truth, Carlos. It was the truth." She turned around and walked down the narrow driveway.

"Right. You're right." He agreed nodding his head, his stride matching her quick walk to the car.

"Let's inform the others about what we have so far," Lucy said as she got in the car.

"Yup. Hopefully, this new information will lead us somewhere."

She didn't respond as she started the car, put it in gear and pulled out into the road. She tried to organize her thoughts, but all she could see in her mind were the dead bodies of Pilar and Daisy.

* * *

While Trent and Darryl were keeping an eye on Daisy's house, Sydney and Gage were staking out Joe's Electronics. Walker and Trivette were keeping a discreet eye on Parker and his associates. Carlos had already headed back to his apartment to get some rest and Kim was at Thunder Investigations working on ferreting out more information about Pilar, Parker and anyone else in his or her immediate circle.

Lucy stepped outside of DPD and was ready to head home for some rest. As she headed toward her car, she saw a man leaning against it. It was the reporter from the Dallas Gazette, Jake Snyder.

"Good morning, Detective Silver." Snyder greeted warmly.

"Mr. Snyder," she responded waiting for him to do what he came to do so she could head home and take a quick catnap.

He flashed an award-winning smile as he took off his sunglasses and his eyes instinctually squinted against the brightness of the morning sun. "I am honored that you've remembered my name."

"I like to know the names of the people I will be arresting in the future."

His smile didn't waver. "So, I was hoping that you and I could share information."

"I don't share information with reporters," she responded firmly as she headed to her car.

He came around the front of her car and placed a hand on the hood. "Well, we are working the same case."

She narrowed her eyes, keeping her gaze locked onto his face and not the hand on her car. "Mr. Snyder, the media has its place, but not in my investigation."

"Your investigation? I thought it was a joint investigation between you, your partner, and the Rangers."

"I suggest that you find something else to write about, Mr. Snyder."

"Actually, I find the case and one of the detectives in the case rather interesting." He explained, as he stepped towards her, his eyes locked onto hers. "So, I won't be finding something else."

Her eyes hardened. "This investigation is on going, and if anyone, and I mean _anyone_ who interferences and disrupts this case will face something much worse than prison time."

He raised his eyebrows and nodded his head. "Ok. I have been warned."

"Yes, you have," she remarked as she opened her car door and got in.

As she drove away, she dared to glance at the reporter and she saw that he had the look of a man whose determination was stronger than any warning. She sighed and wondered if it was Texas that created these men or if she just happened to attract them.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

* * *

Chapter 11: Guilt

The dark brown, glassy eyes looked at Lucy, sending sharp jabs of guilt through her heart. The stark white scarf that was tied tightly around Pilar's neck had been the instrument of her death. Lucy straightened up, her gaze sweeping the dingy motel room that looked as though it hadn't been decorated since the eighties, but it probably would be now since it had been complete torn apart.

The pillows had been ripped apart, causing the feathers inside to spread around the room. The filling of the sliced mattress was spilling onto the floor. The small television had been taken apart and had a large crack in one corner of the screen. The small table that had been next to the bed was broken in half. The phone that had been on that table had its cord pulled from the wall and was off its hook on the other side of the bed.

Her gaze went to the painting that had been hanging on the wall in a cheap, gaudy frame. It had a large hole in the middle of it, but she could make out some ugly flowers in a vase.

She had already looked in the bathroom with its lime colored tile. It contained a tiny sink that was surrounded by towels, bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash and an assortment of makeup. The shower curtain was torn off its hooks and was heaped in the tub.

Her gaze landed Walker and Trivette, who had arrived before her and Darryl.

Trivette's dark eyes looked up from Pilar's body and he cleared his throat. "The call had come in at 11:37 this morning from the maid had found Pilar's body."

Lucy nodded her head and looked at Darryl who was standing next to her. He saw that he was taking his time putting together the scene in his head before he commented.

She moved away from Pilar so that Connie, the medical examiner, could get to work. She signaled to Darryl that she was finished examining the body and the room. He nodded his head, signaling that he was finished as they both followed the two Rangers outside, leaving Connie and the forensic team to work the scene.

"Oswald strangled her with the scarf. He uses a gun to kill his targets. Why would he strangle her?" Trivette questioned.

The frown on her lips deepened as she remembered the impressions in the carpet on either side of Pilar's body. She realized that the impressions had been made by the killer's knees. "When he strangled her, he made certain that she could see his face and that he would watch as she died."

"He made it personal," Walker stated.

Trivette looked at his partner. "Oswald? He's a cold-blooded killer. It's just another job to him."

"It wasn't personal for Oswald. It was for Parker," Darryl said firmly. "We know that he has Oswald do his dirty work, but he made sure that Pilar would suffer."

Trivette nodded his head in agreement. "Sounds like Parker. She left the business and he wouldn't let anyone do that."

"But he did. For a little while anyway," Lucy paused as a new idea sparked in her mind. "It's personal. Too personal." Several possibilities popped up in her mind and she had to quickly filter them through before it became too much. "I think that Pilar was more than just an employee to Parker."

"Wait." Trivette raised his hands, catching onto her thought. "You think Pilar and Parker were together?"

"Yes," she answered with certainty.

"We need to look into this theory." Walker said firmly before his partner could get sidetracked with this information and how he hadn't been able to find it on his computer. "If we can connect Parker officially to Pilar, then we have a connection to him."

Darryl looked at her knowingly. "There is one person who probably knows about the relationship between them."

She nodded her head in agreement. "Let's go."

Trivette looked at Walker with a raised eyebrow.

"You heard Detective Silver, Trivette."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

She half listened to the exchange between the two Rangers as they walked to their respective vehicles. The rest of her mind was on the body of the woman and the private investigator that had been trying to protect that woman.

Pilar's death had had more of an impact on her than she believed it would but she knew that Carlos would feel even guiltier for the woman's death. She saw Trivette get into the passenger's side of Walker's truck as she slid into the driver's seat of her car.

Darryl had gotten into the passenger seat just in time, because she had already turned on the car and put it in drive. As she drove the car to Daisy O'Mara's house, she couldn't get the image of Pilar's body out of her mind.

* * *

Daisy had reluctantly allowed them in her house. She didn't offer any beverages or for them to sit down. She stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, her chin raised in defiance, but there was a touch of fear in her eyes.

Lucy thought it was good that the woman standing before her was afraid. She pulled out her cell phone and put it right in Daisy's face, so she would see the picture of Pilar's body, looking at her with empty eyes.

Daisy gasped at the image on the phone and took a step back. Her hands went to her mouth as tears slid down her face. "No, no!" She exclaimed as she stumbled backwards until she bumped into a chair and managed to sit down.

The woman's hands were shaking and Lucy knew it was time to begin.

"As you can see, Pilar is dead," she said as she returned her cell to her pocket, her eyes never leaving the other woman's face. "If you didn't notice she was strangled to death," she added, harshly.

Daisy sniffled and wiped a tear from her cheek, but she didn't say a word.

"You knew where she was and you didn't tell us," Darryl accused.

Daisy shook her head. "No, no! I didn't know she would end up…end up…"

"Dead," Darryl filled in for her.

"You did know where she was though, didn't you?" Walker asked.

"Yes," she answered softly as she accepted the box of tissues that Trivette handed to her and dabbed her eyes.

"We need you to tell us everything," Walker ordered.

The woman took a deep breath. "Pilar and I worked for Eli Parker. We were escorts. We made decent money and weren't treated too badly as long as we followed the rules." She began to pull the tissue apart in her hands.

Darryl prodded her with a gesture of his hand.

"Pilar ended up Eli's girl. She was his favorite girl for about a year."

"What ended it?" Trivette asked.

"Pilar. She somehow got away from Eli about six months ago."

"You know how she did it," Lucy's green eyes narrowed. "She told you."

"She had something on Eli." She frowned and gently bit her lip. "I don't know exactly what, but it enough to get her out of this life."

"You know where she's hidden the evidence?" Walker questioned.

"No." She shook her head. "I don't know," she added strongly.

"Even if Parker thinks you know where it is, you're in danger." Trivette looked at his partner, silent messages passed between them.

Walker nodded his head and addressed Daisy. "We are going to set you up in a safe house."

Lucy was surprised the woman didn't protest, but accepted with a nod of her head.

"Let me get some clothes and things together," Daisy said as she rose and rushed out of the room.

"I'll call Sydney and Gage and let them know where they are going to be for the next few days," Trivette said as he stepped into the kitchen to make the call.

Lucy turned to Walker. "Darryl and I will head back to the office."

"We'll be there soon," he replied as his eyes went to the room that Daisy had gone into.

Lucy and Darryl exited the house and began to walk to the car that they had parked in the street.

"What do you think?" Lucy asked Darryl taking the car keys out of her pocket.

"I'm not sure," he responded, a thoughtful frown appeared on his face. "Why didn't Parker just kill Pilar before?"

"He wanted the evidence she had against him first," she suggested as she opened the car door.

"Yeah, but why kill Joe Smith?" He opened the car door on his side. "And do you think Tony found about Pilar blackmailing Parker?"

She shrugged her shoulders once she had taken her seat. "Maybe Joe Smith was a liability for a different reason. I know that Pilar went to see him a few days before Tony's death, but maybe that was just a coincidence. You are probably right about Tony finding out about the blackmail. He had been living a clean slate and he didn't want his girlfriend to ruin it. He was going to head that new crew and it was a big opportunity for him."

He looked over at her once he had settled in the passenger seat. "You don't believe in coincidences." He nodded his head. "I agree about Tony. He probably figured Carlos could help. Discreetly," he added.

She snorted as she started the car, put it in drive and pulled out into the street. She doubted that Carlos could be discreet.

* * *

Trent knocked and when he didn't get a response, he opened the door and walked into Carlos' apartment. His best friend was sitting in his recliner, a beer in his hand and several empty bottles on the coffee table in front of him.

Trent dropped off the bag of Chinese food on the coffee table before he went into the kitchen, opened the fridge door and grabbed a bottle of beer. He used the bottle opener to open his beer, and then grabbed a fork from the silverware drawer before he went into the living room and sat on the couch. He took a sip of beer and sighed. He set bottle onto the coffee table before he turned to the somber man sitting next to him. "It's not your fault, Carlos. Pilar refused our help."

The dark-haired detective shook his head. "There had to be some way. Something we could've done to help her."

"Well, I guess we could've had her thrown into a jail cell for her own safety but that probably would've resulted in a law suit."

"She would be alive," he pointed out.

Trent sighed and brought his hands together. "Maybe. It was her choice, Carlos. We can't force people to do things that they don't want to do."

"I couldn't save Tony and I couldn't save Pilar." Carlos threw his empty beer bottle across the room. It smashed against the wall and fell to the floor in pieces. "What's the point?"

"Are you really going to sit here, drink yourself into a stupor and allow the people that did this to get away with it? This isn't the Carlos that I know."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No, we are going to bring down Parker and Oswald."

"Let's eat," he said as he opened the brown paper bag, pulling out food containers, sauce packets and a pair of chopsticks. "Then we both need to get some rest if we are going to be useful."

He nodded as Trent handed him the fork and one of the take-out containers. He opened it and was happy to see that it contained his favorite noodle dish. He didn't realize he was so hungry until he smelled the food. He smiled at Trent, glad that his friend always had his back just as he had Trent's back.


End file.
